Ward Utilities was active last night on the Great Western Highway in Parramatta safely exposing and mapping existing underground services as part of the Easing Sydney Congestion Program.

GM Ross Traynor explained “We have implemented a stringent COVID-19 compliance regime that allows us to work safely as we support this essential infrastructure work. The remote operation functionality of our Dry-Vacs means they can be safely operated whilst maintaining the social distancing that is essential these days. The ability to excavate safely in the absence of water means there is no messy slurry, mist or liquid waste to account for. It provides a sustainable outcome as there is no waste generated and you can back-fill your trial holes with the excavated material. All in all it was a good productive safe night’s work.”  

Don’t be fooled by our quiet head office because it is business as usual for the Ward team on all of our projects as we face up to the COVID-19 challenge.

We are reaping the benefit of Ward’s robust on-line collaborative platforms that allow Head Office and project support staff to work remotely when required.

Head Office may look quiet but the work is continuing. This is a key part of our business continuity strategy designed to meet challenges such as COVID-19.

Work is proceeding to plan across all of our project sites in strict compliance with Government social distancing, personal hygiene and self isolation guidelines.

We thank all of our team, including subcontractors and suppliers, for your dedication and hard work in keeping the work on track whilst complying with our COVID-19 requirements and we thank our clients for your continued support.

Ward is delighted to welcome Digital Transformation specialist Jana Deshpande to the team.

In this era of the Internet of Things it is essential that we harness our various data sources to provide meaningful information that can assist with optimising performance across the business. “It is exciting to work with a company that places digital technology at the forefront of what it does and is receptive to innovation” said Jana. “With the rapid pace of innovation in this digital and AI space you have to be able to adapt. I am looking forward to the challenge”.

Ward COO Brian Mahon, pictured welcoming Jana on board, said “Jana’s industry experience and expertise in digital systems makes her the ideal candidate to lead this next phase in our business transformation. Watch this space for further developments for sure”

Ward presented at the Sydney Roosters CareerWise sessions for the Under 16s and Under 18s teams on Monday afternoon.

The CareerWise sessions are designed to encourage young players to build a career outside of rugby league, to set them up for their post-football life.

To be eligible to play, the young athletes must be engaged in fulltime education, a traineeship or work.

Whilst supporting their number one goal of being selected to play in the NRL, The Roosters work hard to make sure that junior players have options for their post football life.

Ward showcased the various job types and the projects we work on. As a lot of the Under 16s and Under 18s players are still at school, there was a big focus on discussing the different pathways into the civil construction industry.

Ward’s flexible work practices makes working with us an attractive option for people with competing priorities, like playing representative football! 

We loved the chance to talk about what we do, and hopefully we will be able to welcome some new recruits in the coming months.

Thanks to The Roosters for having us and to Ward HR Manager Leigh-Anne Pye, Chandos Traffic Manager Jennifer O’Brien and Community & Stakeholder Manager Danielle Amos for flying the Ward flag.

Ward is celebrating another significant project win, this time a major intersection upgrade project to help ease congestion within Parramatta CBD. The project is in the sweet spot for Ward, and allows us to demonstrate why we are the industry leaders in this challenging Sydney road network upgrade space.

Ward Utilities will be front and centre on the project, using its 3D utility mapping capability augmented by virtual reality as well as Ward’s state-of-the-art Dry Vacs (https://lnkd.in/g5EkCfX) to improve design, safety and sustainability outcomes. Our hard-won experience tells us the energy invested in locating and mapping existing utilities correctly upfront is repaid many times over in improved efficiency.  It helps avoid service clashes and unnecessary utility adjustment works and so saves time, disruption and money.

In addition, Ward will partner with transport sector software leader Mooven who provides a real-time traffic flow data solution that will allow the project team to monitor traffic congestion around their site and proactively address any emerging issues, helping to improve traffic management efficiency and achieve better outcomes for the road users in Parramatta CBD.

“The use of the Dry Vacs, 3D utility mapping and the Mooven software solution means we can be more efficient and improve sustainability” said Jack Cahill, Ward Project Manager. “It is an exciting opportunity to apply new technology solutions in this challenging infrastructure space.”

More details about this fantastic new project will be announced in the coming weeks, but for now it’s heads down for the project team, preparing for what will be another flagship project for Ward.

We are pleased to advise that Ward’s Federal Safety Certification was renewed for another 6 years last week.

Well done to HSEQ Manager Uday Gorrepati who has led the charge in the past three years in migrating the Ward HSEQ system to the cloud whilst maintaining a culture of continual improvement across the business and consistently achieving excellent audit outcomes. Uday is ably supported by WHS co-ordinations Colm Drumgoole, Kaylene Bosman and Joe O’Connor in addition to systems engineer Nathan Murdoch. And no reference to our Federal Safety Certification would be complete without mention of the efforts of Site Engineer Darren Zhang.

Ward is a proud participant in and supporter of the Federal Safety Commissioner’s certification program. It helps keep our people safe and that is what matters most at the end of the day.

A wet Friday means one thing for the Ward crew at Lane Cove West. BBQ time! 

Today’s feast was prepared by Leading Hand and Leading Greek Chef George “the Fro” Mouzarakis, ably assisted by procurement gun Alex Mountakis and assistant chef Kon Katsaounis. 

Ward was pleased to participate in the annual Kari Golf Day at The Coast Golf Club on Wednesday as part of the Sydney Roosters team. 

Kari is the largest indigenous foster care agency in Australia, providing services such as out-of-home-care, carer recruitment and early intervention right across Sydney. Established in 1999, Kari now employs over 140 staff.

Ward, along with Kari, is a proud sponsor of the Sydney Roosters women’s and indigenous teams in addition to its work in the community.

Ward is committed to doing our part to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, through direct employment, engaging indigenous subcontractors and by supporting the work of fantastic organisations like Kari.  

Thank you to Ward Manager- Community and Stakeholder, Danielle Amos, for representing Ward on the green, and a big thank you to Kari for a great day!

Kari makes a huge impact in our community and Ward is proud to support their great work. To know more about Kari, visit: https://www.kari.org.au/

Over the past 74 years, the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht race has become an icon of Australia’s summer sport.

Ward is a proud supporter of the Yeah Baby Yacht which is owned by twin brothers Marc & Louis Ryckmans and competed as Ward Civil Yeah Baby in their 10^th Sydney-Hobart race commencing on Boxing Day, with nothing but blue skies in sight.

Consistent with Wards cultural diversity the Ward Civil Yeah Baby Yacht was crewed by a multicultural team  including Brazilian, German, English, Norwegian, Italian & Australian sailors who made it across the line in an impressive 27^th position.

They of course then faced the harrowing return sail to Sydney through the smoke of the bushfires that raged through southern NSW and Victoria.

Well done to Marc, Louis and the team for an excellent effort.

After a relaxing break, Ward are straight back into doing what we do best: delivering high-quality civil construction solutions for our clients. 

Our state-of-the-art Dry Vacs (dry vacuum excavation trucks) are no exception.

The Dry Vacs have hit the ground running, with both units already in high demand across Sydney. 

Our clients love the results our Dry Vacs deliver, including their superior environmental outcomes. They don’t require the use of high-pressure water (drought-proof!) and they don’t generate sludge waste.

The Dry Vacs have been an absolute hit at the Southern Expansion Enabling Works job at Sydney Airport, with one unit already booked out for weeks in advance. 

“If we were using a wet vac truck, we’d have to cart the sludge out to Western Sydney for disposal. With the Dry Vacs, we can reuse the fill onsite straight away. It’s great for us and the client loves it,” Project Manager Rory Kelly said.

Ward’s Dry Vacs are two of only four units currently operating in Sydney.

2020 is shaping up to be a very busy year and we are excited to see what our Dry Vacs can achieve.

More information about our Dry Vacs is available here: https://www.wardgroup.com.au/dryvacs/